Determination of effective attenuation length of slow electrons in polymer films
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Center for X-ray Optics; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Center for X-ray Optics
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Slow electrons (with energy below 10 eV) play an important role in nature and technology. For instance, they are believed to initiate solubility change in extreme ultraviolet resists. Depending on their mobility, such secondary electrons can lead to image blur and degradation of patterning resolution. Hence, it is important to characterize the transport of slow electrons by measuring parameters such as the effective attenuation length (EAL). In this work, we present a technique that allows for prompt characterization of EAL in polymer films. In this experiment, slow electrons are generated in a substrate upon absorption of x-ray photons. The attenuation of electron flux by a polymer film is measured as a function of film thickness, allowing for the determination of EAL for slow electrons. We illustrate this method with poly(hydroxy styrene) and poly(methyl metacrylate) films. Furthermore, we propose an improvement for this technique that would enable the measurement of EAL as a function of electron kinetic energy.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1782149
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1634175
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 127; ISSN 0021-8979
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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